Castle Heights Military Academy - Yearbook (Lebanon, TN)

Page 10 text:

Encouragement to overstay furlough, to report late at the open- ing of term, to leave ahead of everyone else-all these are injurious to the highest degree, not only to the boy, but also to the institution. With all its heart Castle Heights believes in the happy, pleasant, enjoyable side of school life, but not at the cost of better and bigger and finer things. There are a hundred ways in which the parent can support the Academy, make its work more valuable, its teachings more construc- tive, its law and order more helpful: and there are just as many ways in which the parent, unintentionally, can hinder the Academy, and, hindering the Academy, hinder the boy far more. That is why Castle Heights must in all conscientiousness state plainly and unequivocally, at the very outset, that it cannot undertake to accomplish worth-while results for your boy unless you, for your part, will give freely and fully and continuously of your own co-operation. And now, if you will do this, as naturally you will, let us remind you of the fact that the boys of today, your boy among them, will be the men of tomorrow. Civilization is still in a critical period. Tremen- dous problems must be solved by this next generation. There will be a great need for clear thinking and clean living. , What kind of men are these boys going to be? The Academy is making it' its business to help answer that ques- tion inthe way that every father and mother wants it answered. Consider that boy of yours for a moment. Consider his education. Does he study? Does he know how to study? Has he the exclusive oversight of trained men who know their business? Is his school course properly arranged, or is it at loose ends? ls he passing in his classes? ls he accumulating mere facts, or is he learning to use hisihead? When he gets through where he ls- will he really be prepared for college, for business, for life? Will he be ready to tackle the big job of being a man? Can he think? Can he spell? Can he write a decent letter? Consider his physique. Does he carry himself well? Is his eye clear and bright? Is he in bed every night by ten and up every morn- ing before seven? I-las he the set of the shoulders, the spring of the step, the poise of the head that mean superbly developed muscles, good digestion, abundant sleep, and systematic exercise in the open air? 7

Page 9 text:

Hmitiffoduietory N AN introduction to this volume, Castle Heights would ask the privilege of suggesting the foundation of a mutual understand- ing, upon which there may be erected, if you choose, the conception of a healthful and useful and happy school home for your boy. As a chief stone of the corner of this foundation the Academy would place its own responsibility to you. It proposes in this book to talk to you about your boyg and in so doing, in expressing a willingness to receive him as a charge, it offers to accept whole-heartedly and genuinely the grave responsibility of doing for him the very utmost that all its wisdom and experience can produce. Sincerely and honestly it pledges its best efforts to do for him what you, as an affectionate mother, as an ambitious and devoted father, would have done for him-would do for him your- selves, did opportunity and circumstances permit. Yet there is another stone in this corner, and one which the Academy would be unfair to itsebf and to you, if it did not call to your thoughUut attention. That is, your responsibility to the Academy. There is built up at Castle Heights a painstaking and carefully planned system by means of which wonderful things may be ac- complished for the normal boy. We know of no other method that will accomplish so much. Yet even this structure of ours, as circum- spect as we may be, as watchful, as resourceful, will inevitably to some degree disintegrate unless the parents of each and every cadet give the Academy the same whole-hearted co-operation towards the upbuilding of the boy that the Academy pledges itself to give the parents. Too much money to spend-ruinous. Consent to drop subjects because they seem hard-weakening. Permission to open credit accounts or to draw checks and sign drafts indiscriminately-demoralizing. Assumption of the attitude that the cadet's duty to the Academy is a matter exclusively between the Academy and the cadet-damage ing. Requesting furloughs except under extreme and most unusual circumstances-destructive of the very spirit of responsibility and routine that is the crowning virtue of military school life. 6

Page 11 text:

Consider his habits and character. ls he obedient? Do you have to tell him twice to do a thing? Does he want to argue with you? Does he know twice as much as you knew at his age? Do you know who his companions are? Do you know where he goes and what he does? ls he neat? ls he orderly? Does he shine the heels of his shoes? Can he begin a thing and finish it? Does he respect his elders and superiors? 1 l These things are straws that show which way the wind blows. Castle Heights ofers to help you answer these questions and many others as they must be answered if your boy is to do his full part in this world of ours. As a real school, Castle Heights believes that its special business is to develop real boys into real men. lts program for endeavoring to accomplish this is dehnite, and resolves itself into six distinct heads: l . Isolation. Castle Heights is located just outside the corporate limits of Lebanon, Tennessee, thirty miles from Nashville. This beautiful, historic little town of 4,000 inhabitants is a kind-hearted, Christian community which for eighty years has been the seat of Cumberland University. It has no atmosphere of bright lights, of questionable resorts, of city temptations and distractions. Here a boy breathes the clean air of the unspoiled country. ' 2. Faculty. Castle Heights faculty officers are gentlemen as well as scholars. They are men of experience and ability, each a specialist in his own line. The boy in his manifold moods and problems is an old story to them. They are here because they are ready and will- ing to make the development of your boy their private and personal and particular business. And the faculty for the coming year is larger and stronger than it has been in the Academy's twenty years of un- interrupted success. 3. E q u ip m c n t. Castle Heights is the most magnificently equipped boys' school in the South. Its eight brick and stone build- ings, its commodious auditorium, its gymnasium and swimming-pool, its generous sized class-rooms, its modern laboratory, its beautiful mess-hall, its armory, its memorial library, its hospital, its comfortable cadet quarters, its spacious parade ground and athletic field-these place it in a class by itself. 4. Scholarship. Castle Heights scholarship is already widely recognized. Its diploma means something, and it is about to mean 8